Mexico moves to curb lynchings and police torture amid security‑rights concerns

In the state of Puebla, Andrés Iván Villegas Mendoza, head of the local Congress security committee, reported that a strategy begun in 2019 cut lynching incidents by 87 percent. The program trained municipal officials in all 216 municipalities, shifted response authority to local leaders, and is now backing a proposal to codify lynching as a criminal offence. Villegas noted a slight uptick in 2024 linked to election‑related disruptions but said training continues under the direction of the state public security secretary.

Separately, the municipal police of Juárez received a formal recommendation from the State Human Rights Commission (CEDH) after a 2012 detention was ruled to involve torture. The commission found the detainee suffered severe physical and psychological abuse while under municipal police custody and ordered a criminal investigation, victim reparations, registration in the state victims’ registry, and mandatory human‑rights training for police personnel.